Lessons In Love (Companion Piece 10)
by Meamit
Summary: Molly finds herself answering a lot of questions when Rose arrives for Christmas *All conversation, no description* Companion Piece that fits in just after Chapter 73 and 74 of Just Between Us.


"Grandma?"

"Yes, Rosie dear? Is everything alright? Your cousins are outside, building snowmen. Wouldn't you like to join them?"

"I wanted to talk to you, actually. Grandma... How did you know that you were in love with Grandad?"

"In love? Well, that's a question I've not heard for a very long time! My mother asked me the very same thing when I tried to convince her to let me marry him... It was hard to know where to start then, too."

"Why did you have to convince your mum? Didn't she want you to get married?"

"It's complicated, love. She was trying to look out for me, I think. Although I didn't see it that way at seventeen, of course. But as for your grandad… He was in the year ahead of me in school, you know."

"Did you know him from first year, then?"

"I knew him to see, because – well, you know yourself – it doesn't take long to recognise the faces you see in the common room every night, does it? I remember that he was tall and thin, like your dad. Quiet enough in a crowd, but full of good ideas. A few weeks into term, he was made a reserve Chaser for Gryffindor. I knew the team, because my brother Fabian – that's him on the wall there – was Captain. And even though your grandad rarely got to play, he always helped to organise strategies and after match parties."

"Is that when you first talked to him? At a party?"

"No, we didn't have a proper conversation until after my first Christmas. I found him in a hallway one day after lunch, badgering the Headmaster to allow him to start a study club for first years – can you imagine?! He wanted to help us prepare for exams."

"Oh, but that's such a good idea!"

"Yes, it was considerate of him, wasn't it? Although the Headmaster seemed to be wondering if maybe an older student should be involved, because after all, he was only half a year ahead of us first years at the time!"

"But that meant he would have remembered the material more clearly!"

"How like him you are, my dear – that was his reaction too. Of course, I jumped in and declared that I'd love to join a study group, because he looked so dejected and I didn't think it would do any harm. So he got his way in the end, but from then on he would come up to me in the corridors and let me know when the meetings would be and I was mortified. My classmates seemed to think I was falling behind in every subject!"

"Were you the only one going?!"

"Not quite, but the first meeting only had three people and a prefect had to sit at the back to keep an eye on us, so we were all very shy that evening."

"Poor Grandad, was he upset that only three people joined?"

"He wasn't, surprisingly. He has a whole lesson planned – on Transfiguration, I think it was – and it went quite well. In fact, word spread amongst the first years and by Easter he had twenty members! No Slytherins ever came, but that's how it was back then. I found out later that Arthur – I mean, your grandad – had four younger brothers at home, whom he had taught to read and write."

"He liked being a teacher, then?"

"Yes, I think he rather did! Now, let me get a cup of tea before we say another word, all this talking is making me thirsty. Can I get you some juice, dear?"

"No thank you, Grandma. Can I do anything, though?"

"I can manage, Rosie – but help me eat some of this Christmas pudding at least, before your uncles demolish it. Now, where was I?"

"The study club was going very well."

"It was! We met three times a week, if you can believe it, to make lots of notes and practice the more complicated spells we'd learned. One night, my brother Gideon – the other one in that photo – had to supervise the group, because all the Prefects were busy. He was Head Boy at the time and rather than sit at the back of the classroom reading a newspaper like the others, he helped your grandad to run the meeting."

"Did your brothers like Grandad?"

"They liked him well enough as a student… I don't know what they thought of their little sister dating him, though!"

"When did you start going out him, Grandma?"

"Not until Hallowe'en of my sixth year, if you can believe it! It can be very confusing to figure out your feelings when you're a teenager, can't it, dear?"

"Oh yes! I don't know what to feel or think or anything, half the time. And daddy says that I can get married when I'm twenty-one, but that I'm not allowed to start dating until I'm thirty! … I _think_ he's joking."

"Don't mind your father, Rosie. He's been worrying about this since the day you were born and nothing will change that, you take my word for it! He still worries about Ginny, after all."

"But Ginny is a mum!"

"That doesn't stop her from being his younger sister. He likes to protect people, your dad, have you noticed?"

"He growls at all my friends when they visit in the summer!"

"Well, if you added a few girls to the mix, he might be happier."

"I just have different _types _of friends. I spend a lot of time with Molly and Annie too, but outside the library I have more fun with the boys."

"Hmm… Any particular boy?"

"Tell me more about Grandad's club! Did it continue on the following year?"

"Don't think I don't know a diversion when I hear one! But yes, he continued to tutor the next group of first years. Unfortunately, he started new subjects in third year and… well, not everyone understood his fascination with them."

"What do you mean?"

"He took up Muggle Studies and it was all he could talk about for months! People thought it was a bit… well, a bit odd. The first years still loved his study group, though. He also started a Herbology Week, a Muggle Studies Treasure Hunt and a Recommended Reading notice board for the library."

"Gosh, not even I do all that!"

"Well, your grandad believed – still believes, in fact – that education is one of the most important things in the world. It doesn't have to come from books, mind. Just having a passion for learning is enough. He wanted share it with everyone."

"My mum says that too! She doesn't mind what Hugo reads, so long as he reads something. He has ever so many books about castles and dragons and the Middle Ages."

"Like Charlie, at that age. As we got older, I became very involved in the Charms Club and I saw less and less of your grandad. We still talked over the odd breakfast, or in the common room, but we didn't really _know_ each other."

"But then how did it happen? The spark?"

"What spark, Rosie?"

"You know, when you start to feel… _mushy_ inside. And excited and breathless when they're around. You must know!"

"I do, dear. I just find it quite entertaining that you seem to know too."

"Well, I read a lot…"

"Of course."

"So when was it?"

"Well, when I was in fifth year I became a Prefect for Gryffindor. I was paired with a sixth year girl for rounds. Grandad was a sixth year Prefect but shortly after term began, his patrol partner started dating mine. They used to beg us to swap, so they could walk together."

"And you and Grandad were left alone to do rounds?"

"Yes dear. It's amazing the number of topics you can cover when you spend three evenings a week wandering the corridors together. I was very worried about my family that year, because my brothers were working as Aurors and I didn't hear much news about them from anyone. Arthur used to calm me down and make me laugh. And I liked how kind he was to the younger years, no matter their house."

"My mum likes that sort of thing too. She still has a photo in her dresser from years ago of daddy sitting on the floor, playing with Teddy and Victoire."

"Does she now?"

"Yes, she looks at it every time she opens the drawer, I've seen her do it loads."

"Well, at least it didn't take your grandad and I as long as it took your parents to realise their feelings!"

"Daddy says he was being a gentleman and not distracting her from her studies."

"Was he indeed? I should hope so. You should bear that in mind too. Your OWLs are very important, Rosie. This is a big year for you."

"Oh! But I'm not – I – I was talking about…"

"I know what you're talking about. Anyway, your grandad and I were very close friends by the end of my fifth year, but it took him months to pluck up the courage to officially ask me out."

"How did he do it?"

"He became Head Boy and arranged all of the Prefects patrol schedules."

"Did he put you down for rounds with him?"

"Not quite, but he did partner me with the one student who, despite her lovely nature, was almost always too ill to patrol. And with nobody else to fill in, the most honourable thing for him to do was to join me, you see."

"That's very sneaky for Grandad!"

"Do you think so? I was rather impressed at the time."

"If it was for true love, I wouldn't have minded either."

"Oh Rosie, you _are _a tonic! True love… Hmm, well I suppose it was, wasn't it? We had a blissful rest of the year, despite all of the jokes about redheads joining forces."

"They never said _that?!_"

"Oh, we had our fair share of teasing, believe you me. But Arthur and I could handle anything when we were together. It was my seventh year that caused all the fuss."

"Why? Was it because Grandad was finished school?"

"Yes, that was exactly it. The idea of spending ten months without each other was almost too much to bear, back then. I spent the entire Christmas break trying to convince my mother to allow me to accept his proposal."

"He _proposed_ while you were still in school?!"

"Didn't I say that? Yes, he proposed at Hallowe'en, but my family was very wary. Your grandad had taken on a part time position at the Ministry, so that he could still care for his mum, who wasn't well. My mother was concerned that he wouldn't be able to support me too."

"That's not fair!"

"You're young, Rose dear. Parents aren't as affected by declarations of true love if it means their child might not be safe."

"But Grandad would always protect you!"

"Yes, but they didn't know him and they didn't know that. And as a result, my mother said no."

"How did you change her mind?"

"I didn't."

"But – but you're married to Grandad!"

"I – well yes, but we – oh…"

"What is it? Grandma, you _didn't_…? Did you _elope?!"_

"Rose, it was wartime. Extreme circumstances – we had no other way to make sure we'd be together!"

"That is so _romantic!"_

"No it's not! Rosie? Rose dear, do you hear me? It's not romantic _at all_, it's a very silly thing to do! Rosie!"

"Did you go to Gretna Green?"

"To where?"

"Never mind, it's just in all my Muggle books…"

"No, we went to the Headmaster that Easter. I was staying back under the guise of studying – which was a terrible lie to tell my poor mother – and I had already turned seventeen the summer before, so – so…"

"Oh Grandma, you should write a book all about it, that's awfully exciting!"

"No, it wasn't exciting Rosie! Promise me you'll never do anything as hare-brained! Promise me now, there's a good girl?"

"Grandma, who would I possibly elope with?"

"I'm not sure I want to know…"

"And even if there was a boy – a _hypothetical_ boy – a boy who made me feel like a princess and who was clever and funny and handsome… Well, even if a boy like that existed, he might never ask me to marry him."

"A beautiful girl, like you? You haven't a thing to worry about. I always knew you'd break hearts, Rose dear, from the moment I laid eyes on you."

"But I would never get married without mum and daddy there."

"Good! Well, that's something… Are you going to tell me who the hypothetical boy is? Now don't look at me like that – I might be getting old, but I did raise seven children of my own, I know the signs!"

"Not – not yet, Grandma. I'm worried about what daddy will say, because I know sixteen is too young really, but… but I should see what happens, shouldn't I? I mean, if it is true love? Mum says a bit of her always knew she wanted to marry daddy."

"Honestly, what sort of discussions do the four of you have over the dinner table?! There's nothing wrong with keeping it to yourself for a while, Rose, but don't forget who you are in the process! You are a strong Weasley woman and you don't need a boy to define you, lovie. Always be true to yourself, before you're true to true love. Do you hear me? And break the news to your father gently, whoever the boy is…"

"Oh Grandma, I hope I'm this happy forever!"

"Merlin, child, if you want me to live to see the wedding, please don't tell your parents that my advice had anything to do with it, alright? You really _are_ your father's daughter!"


End file.
